USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > The history of Keokuk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. : a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 49
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In an early day, when he was running for county clerk, and without any opposing candidate, he was, after much persuasion, induced to go out with a campaign speaker from abroad, to hold a meeting in a school-house in one of the border townships. While on the way the stranger asked Wil- liams how the Whig ticket was going to run in the county.
"Oh, I guess all right, unless it be the clerk," said M. T.
" Clerk! why, what is the matter with that? Are you not popular, Wil- liams ?"
" No, not very, I guess. Some of the Democrats are finding fault."
" Well, who is running against you ?"
" Oh, well-ahem-oh, there is not anybody else running in particular."
Of course the laugh was on the agitated independent candidate, with no opponent in the field.
POOR FARM.
Asylums for the poor, the disabled and the unfortunate are peculiarly Christian institutions, it has been said, and they become more common with the growth of civilization. None of the heathen nations, Rome, Greece or Macedon, in their times of greatest wealth and power, ever established any public institutions for the relief of the destitute, but in this age a State, or even a county of any considerable size or prosperty, would be considered far behind in all the elements of progress unless some provision was made for the care of paupers and other unfortunates.
Keokuk county has been rather remarkably free from abject poverty, but nevertheless has been diligent and generous in providing a place for those too poor to have any other. Care is taken to make the institution adapted to its purposes and to keep it always in good order.
Although the poor of the county have been cared for from the beginning by appropriations made by the county board, it was not till more recent times that a county infirmary was established. Before that time it was the custom to have the paupers boarded in private families, and also to fur- nish provisions to indigent families. This plan was very expensive, the county frequently being compelled to pay as high as four dollars per week for the board and lodging of a single pauper; also the plan of furnishing provisions was unsatisfactory, as thereby the way was left open for the practice of fraud, many persons in this way frequently receiving aid who were not deserving.
The first step taken toward the establishment of a county infirmary was. taken in June, 1866. The county board at that time consisted of one mem- ber from each township. There were sixteen members, and notwithstand- ing the fact that it was too large a body to transact business promptly, and as such a large board would necessarily be made up in part of men unused to business transactions, work was not always transacted in the best of man- ner, yet the old board of sixteen looked after the interests of the county thoroughly, and many public improvements which to-day reflect credit
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HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
upon the county and placed it in the front rank in all matters of public enterprise, had their origin in this miniature legislature.
It was at the June session, 1866, that the first official action was taken with reference to the establishment of the infirmary. A committee had been appointed to investigate the propriety of such action, and at the meet- ing referred to the committee made the following report:
" The committee on care of the poor, to whom the resolution in regard to the purchase of an infirmary was referred, would recommend the propri- ety of purchasing a farm for this purpose, not to exceed in price the sum of two thousand dollars, and that a vote on this question be submitted to the electors at the next election."
At the January meeting, 1867, a committee was appointed to purchase a farm, which was not to exceed two hundred acres and to be not less than fifty acres. The committee appointed consisted of William Jackson, B. A. Haycock, Samuel West, William McLoud and Lewis Hollingsworth.
This committee did not purchase a farm, but made a selection of two and recommended the purchase of one of them.
In 1868 another committee was appointed to purchase a farm and erect buildings. This committee at a subsequent meeting reported the purchase of a farm, but did not proceed further on account of there being no funds for that purpose. The committee was accordingly discharged.
The farm purchased by the committee was the one belonging to Richard Payton, one mile east of Sigourney, and consisted of two hundred and four acres. The price paid was $3,500.
In 1869, at the January meeting a committee, consisting of Messrs. Jackson, Randall and Morgan, was appointed to erect suitable buildings on the poor farm. At the same meeting it was ordered that the sum of $5,000 be placed at the disposal of said committee.
The business of superintending the erection of the building was left in the charge of Mr. Jackson, who himself drew the plans and specifications and entered upon the erection of the house, which was completed in 1870.
The following report of the committee will afford a good idea of the cost and nature of the building:
" To the Honorable Board of Supervisors, Keokuk County, Iowa:
" Your committee on building county poor-house beg leave to report that the building is now nearly finished and may be occupied at any time, and it may not be considered ont of place to briefly review the progress of the work from its commencement.
" Your committee, on the first of February, 1869, made a contract with B. Fixmer for 110,000 brick, to be made on the county farm and delivered at the kiln at $7.50 per thousand.
"They then gave public notice, inviting bids for the erection of the building. A number of bids were presented; the committee being all present, on opening the same, Mr. Blaise's bid was found to be $4,255.50, and being the lowest of all the bids for the work specified, the work was awarded to him, to be completed by the first day of October, 1869. Owing to the extremely wet season and the great amount of heavy material to be hauled before the basement was erected, it was so late in the season that it was thought advisable to suspend the work till spring, and the board authorized that to be done.
25
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HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
" Your committee met in the spring, before the brick work was com- menced, and examined the foundation carefully and found it to be in a good condition, and the contractor has since been faithfully going on with the work.
"Before the June meeting, your committee, on visiting the building, thought it advisable to request thie members of the board to visit the building and decide on the propriety of finishing the same at once, when it was determined that it would be most judicious to do so, and an appro- priation of $2,000 was made for that purpose.
" Your committee requested Mr. Blaise to make out his lowest estimate on the additional work to be done, and if not reasonable it was their in- tention to call in competition, although it would have occasioned consider- able inconvenience and delay in the work.
" Messrs. Jackson and Randall visited the building and pointed out the work to be done, and Mr. Blaise presented his bid in items, amounting to $2,323, to complete the building, grading, etc. On the suggestion of Mr. Randall the bid was accepted on condition that Mr. Blaise should waive all claims for extras, he having previously presented a claim for upwards of $300 for solid partitions in rooms to be adapted to the care of the harmless insane, drain to foundation, to which he was entitled, and also for heavier walls in the foundation, etc.
" The entire cost of the building is as follows:
R. Fixmer, for brick . $ 825.00
Original contract .. 4,255.50
Additional contract. 2,323.00
Total. $7,403.50
Amount paid on first contract.
$3,500.00
Amount paid on second contract 2,100.00
Total.
$5,600.00
Amount due on first contract
$ 755.50
Amount due on second contract 223.00
Total due. $ 978.50
" We will now make a short statement of the work accomplished :
" The dimensions of the building are 40x50 feet; basement story is seven feet in the clear; the first and second stories are ten feet, and the attic is eight and one-half feet.
" The attic contains a hall four feet wide lengthwise, six rooms and six closets; the second story, ten rooms and seven-foot hall; the first floor con- tains a seven-foot hall and six rooms. The basement, on the north side, is a cellar, divided into two departments. The cellar and hall floors are laid with six inches of spawls, grouted over with lime mortar and finished with cement, and the walls all plastered. The south side of the basement is finished up for kitchen and dining-room.
"Lightning rods and spouting have been put up and a large cistern con- structed; stone steps, front and rear of the building, grade steps and grade
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HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
walls have been built up in the most substantial manner, and a heavy amount of grading done around the building.
" It is the opinion of your committee that the county will possess a good and substantial building, and fully up to the contract. The contracts and receipts for money paid contractors are herewith submitted, and we would request the board to visit and examine the building.
" All of which is respectfully submitted.
" MAXON RANDALL, " WM. JACKSON, " T. A. MORGAN, Committee on building poor-house."
" September 7, 1870.
In addition to this building there is another, which was erected in 1878 for use as an insane department. This building was likewise planned by Mr. Jackson, and cost $2,700.
The farm is one of the best in the county, and by reason of its con- tiguity to the comity-seat is probably the best selection that could have been made. The house is located on a high piece of ground, immediately east of a creek, and there are the best facilities for drainage. There are one hundred and eighty acres of the farm under cultivation. The fences ard ont-buildings are in a good state of repair, and a fine young orchard promises in a few years to furnish the household with an abundance of fruit. The number in the household varies from time to time, there being usually from twenty to thirty. On the completion of the insane department there were ten insane persons brought from the State Asylum.
Medical attendance is provided by the board of supervisors, the contract being allowed to the lowest bidder. Dr. Cook is at present the county physician.
The first superintendent was J. R. Hall. This gentleman had charge of the farm at the time of the completion of the building. When the house was opened for the reception of inmates Mr. Hall was retained, and con- tinned to remain in the position until the beginning of 1879. T. M. Dickey is at present the superintendent. He gives all his time, furnishes all the help, except such as is rendered by the paupers, also all the teams and farming implements required for the cultivation of the farmn, receiving for the same seven hundred and seventy-five dollars per annum, with board and house room.
Of the male inmates, few are able to do anything, and several of them require much attention. Of the female inmates, there are several who ren- der considerable assistance. The female imnates, in connection with Mr. Dickey's family, do all the work of the house, including their own cooking, and attending to persons unable to assist themselves. A number of the inmates are wholly or partially insane, and six or seven have fits very fre- quently. But few of them are physically able to earn a living, and one or two of them will soon cease to be a charge to any one in this world.
The home, with the new additions built, has a capacity for more than the number of present inmates. All the arrangements and plans now in operation would require little, if any, change or additional cost if the numn- ber of inmates was largely increased.
The county supervisors and the steward appear to be doing all they can to promote the comfort and welfare of the inmates. The inmates are all
396
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
well clad, and have an abundance of good, plain, substantial and well- cooked food.
With such facilities for receiving inmates, it is certainly proper that parties requiring aid from the county be removed to that place just as soon as possible, and that in all possible cases the payment of money to out-door paupers should cease. There may be certain cases in which it may be proper to pay a weekly sum to an individual or family for support, but these cases are very few. This is especially the case when the county-house. has facilities for accommodating a much larger number of inmates. Town- ship trustees should see that the poor fund is not depleted by such heavy payments, as in times past, to those outside of the county-house. Economy demands this, and in most cases humanity also, for it cannot but be ad- mitted that persons in want or insane can be much better accommodated on a county farm than in private residences. This is a question that lies with the township trustees, and almost beyond control of the board of supervis- ors. The funds for the support of the inmates of the county-house have been exhausted largely by the heavy drafts for assistance to persons out- side of the county-house; but the abundant crops on the farm will do much toward sustaining the whole concern during the year.
Mr. Dickey keeps his books on a scientific basis, showing cost of every item, as also revenue from each and every source itemized. This is setting a good example, one which might well be followed by many farmers on their own account.
The above statements show that the affairs of the farm are managed with care and good judgment. "Over the hills to the poor-house " is a sad story at best, but there is one far sadder. A painting at the Centennial portrayed an aged Indian squaw left to perish on the plains, while those of her own tribe-her own family and children even, were wending their way out of sight, followed by the despairing, worn out, deserted old woman. Such is life among those who know nothing of charity.
There are at the present time twenty-six inmates, ten of whom are in- sane and sixteen sane. The following are the names of the insane:
A. Stone, Edward Bocaw, James Hoover, John Doran, Catharine Mills, Mary Horning, Mary Holliday, Margery Beggs, Anne Ruplinger, John Aired. Some of these are harmless and easily managed, while five of them have to be confined, while one, Catharine Mills, must be closely confined in a cell.
The following are the names of the paupers:
John Gamble, George Campbell, Presley Clark, George Miller, Henry Sampson, Frank Long, William Gusler, Mary Priest, Celia Pollock, Mag- gie Garver, Clovy Seaton, Laura Thralekill, Rosa Wareham, Ida Payton,. Adaline Wareham, Mary Bradley.
Among the insane, John Doran was admitted last May; the rest were. all brought from the State Asylum, December, 1878.
Among the paupers the following have been admitted during Mr. Dickey's administration: William Gusler, Ida Payton and George Miller. The others have been inmates for a longer time ; some of them for a number of years. Mary Priest and Celia Pollock have been inmates ever since the in- firmary was started. The former has traveled life's rugged road three score years, during eight of which she has been totally blind in consequence of having had sore eyes. She was born in Greene county, Ky., and has at this time a brother living in Mahaska county, and one also, Wm. Priest, in this-
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HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
county. Mrs. Davis, living three-fourths of a mile east of the poor-house, is, we believe, her only living sister. Mary was never married, and pre- vious to coming to the poor-house, on the 30th of September, 1870, had never called on the county for aid, except in one instance. She appears to be in the full possession of her mental faculties, and boasts that while com- pelled to seek a home in the poor-house, she is still able to pay her own way if furnished with enough knitting to keep her busy. The first year she knit 64 pairs of stockings; has been knitting at the same rate ever .since.
Celia Pollock doesn't know when she was born and can't tell anything about her history, consequently was not an easy subject to interview. Na- ture failed to endow Celia with a mind above that of an idiot, and her powers of speech are such as can only be understood by those familiar with her gibberish. We learn that she is 53 years of age, has a sister living about nine miles southwest of Sigourney, and a brother near Springfield, in this county. She is not capable of doing anything about the house without watching, and may be put down as a harmless simpleton with animal pas- sions fully developed. Celia's case furnished a good illustration of man's inborn depravity, brutes in human form having made her the mother of eight children.
The nativity of the paupers is as follows : Five are natives of Iowa, two were born in Illinois, two in Indiana, one in New York, one in Scot- land, one in North Carolina, one in Maryland, one in Pennsylvania, one in Kentucky and one in Germany.
RAILWAYS.
The importance of railroads was early appreciated by the people of Keo- kuk county, and projects of that nature have been discussed for more than a quarter of a century. Although it required years of agitation, and before there was anything definite accomplished, there was an outlay of thousands upon thousands of dollars by way of individual subscription, and thousands upon thousands in public taxation, the county has now very good railway communication with the outside world, and this bids fair to increase in the immediate future.
The first railroad projected was the "Air Line" road through the State from New Boston on the Mississippi to Council Bluffs. The agitation of this question was quite active as is shown by the notice of the county judge submitting the question to the people whether or not aid should be extended to this line. "The following is the notice:
"In 1853 the petition of many people of the county was presented, asking that the question be submitted to a vote of the people of Keokuk county, Iowa, whether the county of Keokuk, aforesaid, will aid in the construction of the 'Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad' by subscribing the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to the capital stock of the said road.
"Now, therefore, in order that the sense of the voters of said county may be taken in the premises, it is hereby ordered that a special election be held for the purpose of voting 'for' or 'against' the following proposition, to-wit: That the county of Keokuk, in the State of Iowa, will aid in the construc- tion of said road, to-wit: the 'Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad,' by subscribing one hundred thousand dollars to the capital
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HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
stock of the company of said road. That county bonds be issued therefor, payable in twenty years of their date, bearing interest at a rate not to ex- ceed six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, and that whenever said company has obtained a sufficient amount of subscription to its stock as will, in the opinion of the county judge, secure the completion of the road, then that county bonds shall be issued to the company of said road. That in addition to the taxes usually levied an annual tax not to exceed one. per cent upon the county valuation be levied from year to year so long as. the same is required to be applied to the liquidation of the interest and principal of the bonds aforesaid, unless it is found that the interest and principal can be satisfied by the dividends arising from, or sale of, stock above mentioned. That the county judge of Keokuk county represent in person, or by proxy, the stock taken by said county. That the form of ballots for the said elections shall be 'For the county subscription' or- 'Against the county subscription'; a majority of votes for the county sub- scription will be considered as adopting the above proposition entire. It is further directed that the law governing elections shall so far as compati- ble, be applied to this election."
The election to decide on this proposition was not held as it became ap- parent that the enterprise could not be successful, and the early settlers- were compelled to do without a railroad.
Although railroad matters were discussed from time to time nothing definite was done for some seven or eight years. The war then breaking- out railroad building was discontinued everywhere, and the public mind was so much absorbed with war matters that railroads ceased to be talked of. At the close of the war the attention of the people which had for so- long a time been directed from the question of railroads was again called to this important matter. Lines leading in all directions were projected from the leading centers of trade and the peace of the interior towns which for five years had been so frequently broken by noisy war meetings was now interrupted no less frequently by equally exciting railroad meetings.
The war had scarcely closed and Keokuk county soldiers had not yet all returned to their homes when the building of a railroad through the county began to be agitated. A company was organized known as the. North Missouri & Cedar Rapids Railroad Company and the proposed line was to run from Ottumwa to Cedar Rapids, passing through Keokuk county in a northeast direction. Early in July, 1865, George D. Woodin, Esq., visited Cedar Rapids for the purpose of consulting with the people of that place upon the subject. Upon his return he reported that the peo- ple of Cedar Rapids were heartily in favor of the project and would co- operate in the enterprise. Shortly after this a delegation of citizens of Sigourney, consisting of H. E. Havens, J. H. Sanders, G. H. Higgins and L. McCoy, visited Ottumwa. A public meeting was called at the City Hall of Ottumwa for the purpose of welcoming the delegation and confer- ing with them on the subject of the proposed line. As a result of the in- terview it was resolved to call a general convention at Ottumwa on the. 10th of August, to be participated in by all the people along the line of the proposed road. The convention was held, and from this time J. H. Sanders, a wealthy and enterprising citizen of Sigourney was promi- nently identified with this enterprise. George D. Woodin, T. A. Morgan,- J. C. Hogin, William McGrew and H. E. Havens were also very active in the matter. About this time a railroad meeting was held at the court-
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HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
house in Sigourney. At this meeting Mr. Woodin estimated the amount necessary to be subscribed by Keokuk county at $160,000 and offered the following resolution:
" Resolved, That the citizens of Keokuk county can and will raise $160,- 000 toward the construction of the Iowa extension of the North Missouri railroad."
Which resolution was unanimously adopted.
It will be remembered that at this time there was no legislative provis- ion whereby townships could vote a railroad tax, and the only way it could be procured was by voluntary subscription.
In September another railroad convention was held at Cedar Rapids, which was attended by delegates from ten different counties. At this meeting it was resolved that the capital stock should be five millions of dollars, and that measures should be immediately taken for the completion of the road.
The persons who were most interested, officially and otherwise, canvassed the country through which the proposed line lay, and solicited subscrip- tions to the capital stock. Quite an amount was subscribed along the line between Sigourney and Ottumwa, and considerable grading was done be- tween these two points.
Such was the state of affairs in the summer of 1869. Up to this time it was impossible to make much progress in building, as the people along the line were unable to pay their subscriptions. To facilitate matters, and give subscribers time to pay, it was arranged with the contractors that the work should go on, provided the subscribers would give their notes for the amount of their subscriptions. About seventeen thousand dollars in notes were thus procured from people living along the line in Keokuk county. On the 27th of September, this year, a railroad meeting was held in the court-house, Sigourney, and after considerable talk an arrangement was en- tered into by which the merchants of Sigourney agreed to close their stores for three days, commencing the Tuesday following, and canvass for notes. A great number of notes were in this manner procured, and the work of grading was pushed forward and completed from Ottumwa to Sigourney. There were also quite a number of bridges built, and there was quite a flat- tering prospect that the road would soon be completed between these two points. However, when the people of the county, and especially those liv- ing at the county-seat, thought themselves on the very eve of having rail- road communication with the outer world, they were doomed to disappoint- ment. Many living along the line, who had given their notes, were either unable or unwilling to pay them, and their collection being inforced by the the courts, there was engendered. a feeling of hostility toward the road, and the enterprise now met with the most stubborn opposition from those who at first were most friendly. Suddenly all work ceased. The railroad was no longer talked of except in derision. The next spring farmers built fences across the road-bed, and that part of it which was not cultivated be- came rank with weeds.
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